Read More

Clare dropped a man back thinking that if we don’t concede a goal and 30-odd points, we’ll go a long way to winning this match. Galway’s 1-17 was a very beatable tally.

Putting Joe Canning to wing-forward worked well for Galway in that there was no spare man sitting behind him and he was able to get on the ball a bit more.

Galway may have got the result in the end but, other than the opening 20 minutes of the Leinster final replay against Kilkenny, we haven’t seen the best of them yet. Are we going to see it? It’s hard to say.

It could be a good thing that they’re going into the final knowing they have yet to produce their very best but they’re going to have to up it. If it wasn’t for the fact that Galway are reigning champions and Limerick haven’t won since 1973, Limerick would probably be favourites going into the final.

From experience, I don’t think it’s a bad thing that Galway have a two-week lead in. Back in 2004, we had a very taxing run to the All-Ireland final but then there was a big gap from the semi-final and we were flat come the final.

There’ll be a bit of panic this week surrounding arrangements for the final and tickets, but Galway are experienced enough at this stage to move past that and look at the fundamental issues – like why they’re not hurling to the best of their ability.

I think they’ll pick it up for the final but whether that’ll be good enough or not remains to be seen as Limerick are on a high.

It’s a great opportunity for Galway to win two-in-a-row and crown this as a great era for them. Otherwise, it’ll be a legacy of one All-Ireland and it won’t be so easy to regroup next year and win another one.

Not just hurlers on ditch it seems

I was disappointed to see Eamonn Fitzmaurice stepping down as Kerry manager and the circumstances surrounding it.

I’ve always been a big football fan and grew up supporting Kerry. There’s no way that Eamonn deserved the abuse he was shipping and it recalled a time in my own career when Nickey Brennan resigned as Kilkenny manager.

It was in 1997, I was team captain and we were playing Limerick in a League semi-final which, bizarrely, fell after we had lost the All-Ireland semi-final to Clare.

Naturally enough, we weren’t particularly up for it and Nickey took it in the neck from the stands, with his brother Canice’s presence on the team at the heart of it.

Now, Canice was a fine player who was well worth his place, but Nickey resigned after the game on the back of it all.

This was in an era before social media but ‘supporters’ of teams can be very cruel and critical.

The thing is, it’s a shame that these people can have such an influence on a manager’s decision to stay or go.

Invariably, the invective comes from people who have a limited knowledge of the game and never played it to any great standard.

Let it flow by all means Fergal, but don’t swallow the whistle

I’m a great believer in referees letting the game flow but Fergal Horgan went way over the top in that respect on Sunday.

There was a lot of stuff that could and should have been blown but wasn’t and the game didn’t need the referee to swallow his whistle for so long at times. It was quite a poor refereeing display on the whole.

David Burke is very lucky to be preparing for an All-Ireland final. His was a very hefty tackle on Aron Shanagher, bordering on dangerous.

It should have been a red card and he was extremely fortunate to escape with a yellow.

There aren’t enough top quality referees out there at the moment. A lot of them only see fouls by the book, like steps or the odd chop, but don’t spot what I would call hurling fouls, like the clips on the hand, etc.

I believe recently retired players should be encouraged to get into refereeing as they know the game better.

It never even occurred to me when I finished playing because I was never asked. At least put the question to retiring players.

Don’t miss this weekend’s GAA action – sign up to Sky Sports and get 6 months half price here, or try a NOW TV Sports Month Pass here, now just €20 a month – usually €50!